The Heart's Cry: Psalm 47

Psalm 47

There are times when I begin to think that having a king was the worst thing that ever happened to Israel.

You see on one hand we believe that God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and on the other hand we put a lot of stock in who is the ruler of our particular parcel of land. Here in America we see this especially in focus during our election cycle. It begins over a year before the actual election when candidates begin to pop up. We hitch ourselves to whichever particular candidate says the right thing or believes the right thing or gives us hope or instills in us enough fear and as the process moves on stage by stage we become more and more galvanized that only our particular candidate can lead our country into a bright future, while the candidate on the other side is only interested in riding us on a chariot to hell. Then election day comes and we are either exuberant or a complete mess. For the next 4 or 8 years it is a constant battle against those who are against us, whether we be on the winning or losing side.

We wrap so much into this one person, or against that one person, that we forget that whoever sits in an oval office, or wherever your particular ruler sits, is not quite at the level of the one who sits on a throne in heaven. Those of us who believe need to often remind ourselves of that fact, that God supercedes the person we declare as 'the most powerful man [or one day, woman] in the world'. We need to begin again, remembering God's power and might and justice and love and mercy and peace. If we fail to make that jump back to how we once believed we will miss out on the opportunities that God is granting us in the here and now to transcend our momentary concerns by focusing on things of eternal importance.

+ In what ways has your culture focused more on your earthly leader than on your heavenly king? How have you?